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- ViewpointJordanUS Foreign Policy
An Existential Oval Office Moment for Jordan—and All Arabs
Feb 14, 2025Rami G. KhouriThe scene in the White House on February 11 was startling. King Abdullah II of Jordan listened to President Donald Trump ramble on about how the United States …
- ViewpointPalestine/IsraelUS Foreign Policy
The Gaza War and the Future of Democracy in the United States and Israel
Feb 14, 2025Daniel BrumbergIn a way that few could have predicted a few short weeks ago, the fate of democracy in the United States (and in some ways Israel) has now been irrevocably tie…
- ViewpointUS Foreign Policy
Trump’s First Three Weeks in Office: Signs of Disruption and Chaos
Feb 13, 2025Khalil E. JahshanIn his first few weeks back in office, Donald J. Trump delivered his characteristic ‘shock and confusion’ tactics by unleashing dozens of draconian and vindict…
- Policy AnalysisUS Foreign Policy
Trump’s Second-Term Foreign Policy: Highly Centralized, and Highly Personal
Feb 12, 2025Charles W. DunneThe late US secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld once famously explained his taxonomy of information in typically gnomic terms. “There are known knowns,” he sa…
- Policy AnalysisThe Arabian Peninsula and The GulfUS Foreign Policy
Trump II and American-Gulf Relations
Feb 11, 2025Kristian Coates UlrichsenDonald Trump re-entered the White House on January 20 as the first president to serve a non-consecutive second term since Grover Cleveland in 1893. Any expecta…
- ViewpointPalestine/IsraelUS Foreign Policy
The Drama, Delusion, and Dangers of Trump’s Gaza Plan
Feb 6, 2025Rami G. KhouriDonald Trump displayed his usual combination of disruption and delusion with his proposal for the US to take over the Gaza Strip after displacing its Palestini…
- Policy AnalysisUS Domestic Politics and Elections
Trump’s Executive Orders and Actions Upend Policies at Home and Abroad
Feb 6, 2025Gregory AftandilianPresident Donald Trump’s first two weeks in office were marked by his signing of a dizzying array of executive orders, both to fulfill his campaign pledges and…
- Policy AnalysisLebanonDemocracy and Governance
Out With the Old, In With the New: Is There a New Hope for Lebanon?
Feb 6, 2025Patricia KaramFollowing a surprising appointment as Lebanon’s new prime minister, independent jurist, academic, and former diplomat Nawaf Salam, finds himself enmeshed in th…
- ViewpointSyriaRegional Relations and Geopolitics
Revolutionary Legitimacy in Syria: Sharaa as President
Feb 4, 2025Radwan ZiadehIn all transitional periods, it is important to move quickly from revolutionary legitimacy to representative legitimacy, which Syria’s new authorities did by a…
- Policy AnalysisPalestine/IsraelInternational Law
The Slowdown in Enforcing International Law
Jan 29, 2025Jonathan KuttabInternational law has helped govern the behavior of states for hundreds of years. Early principles like the prohibition on poisoning wells (rooted in just war …
- Policy AnalysisSyriaJustice, Equality, and Human Rights
Liberation from the “Human Slaughterhouse”: A Dark History of Imprisonment in Syria
Jan 28, 2025Yara M. AsiAssad's regime imprisoned more than 150,000 people, including some 5,000 children. Multiple reports have emerged of horrific torture, neglect, and murder insid…
- Policy AnalysisPalestine/IsraelUS Foreign Policy
Trump Will Not Stop Israel from Snatching Defeat from the Jaws of Victory
Jan 24, 2025Daniel BrumbergSeveral observers of the Middle East have suggested that President Donald Trump’s “transactional” instincts could impel him to push for a wider Palestinian-Isr…
- Policy AnalysisSyriaRegional Relations and Geopolitics
Regime Change in Syria and Stabilization: The Limits of Turkey’s Unilateral Action
Jan 24, 2025Salim ÇevikTurkey has played a pivotal role in Syria’s conflict, significantly shaping the trajectory of opposition groups, particularly Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). With…
- Policy AnalysisSyriaRegional Relations and Geopolitics
Egypt Remains Cool to the New Syrian Government
Jan 23, 2025Gregory AftandilianThe Egyptian regime of Abdel Fattah el-Sisi looks upon the recent developments in Syria with a good deal of trepidation. That the Islamist rebel armed group, H…
- ViewpointPalestine/IsraelConflicts and Conflict Resolution
Incoherent Ceasefire Deal in Gaza Guaranteed to Fail
Jan 21, 2025Khalil E. JahshanAfter fifteen months of brutal military hostilities in the Gaza Strip, Hamas and Israel finally announced their acceptance of a multi-phased and gradual ceasef…
- Policy AnalysisSyriaMigrants, Refugees, and IDPs
Political Change and the Fate of Syria’s Refugees Around the World
Jan 16, 2025Heba GowayedOn December 8, the Syrian armed resistance group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) brought the Assad regime to an abrupt end after more than 54 years of brutal rule.…
- ViewpointLebanonDemocracy and Governance
The Emergence of Lebanon’s Third Republic
Jan 16, 2025Imad K. HarbThe election on January 9, 2025, of the Lebanese Army Commander Joseph Aoun as the fourteenth president of Lebanon can very well be the inauguration of the Leb…
- Policy AnalysisThe Arab World
How Will 2025 Be Different in the Middle East? Perspectives on the New Year
Jan 15, 2025Khalil E. Jahshan Daniel Brumberg Dana El Kurd Imad K. Harb Patricia Karam Nabeel A. Khoury Yousef Munayyer Annelle ShelineThe monumental events that took place in the Middle East in 2024 augur radical changes in the region’s geopolitical environment. Israel’s ongoing genocidal war…
- Intern CornerPalestine/IsraelProtests and Activism
The Ongoing Suppression of Pro-Palestinian Advocacy in the United States
Jan 8, 2025Selma KarameOn October 15, 2024, the United States and Canada jointly announced terrorist sanctions against the Vancouver-based NGO Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarit…
- Policy AnalysisLebanonDemocracy and Governance
Lebanon’s Post-Hezbollah “Day After”
Jan 7, 2025Patricia KaramThe surprising fall of the brutal regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria on the heel of Hezbollah’s spectacular losses and, with it, the tremendous weakening of Ir…
- Policy AnalysisLebanonGlobal Health and Health Policy
Lebanon’s Health System: Decades of Struggle and a Year of Israeli Attacks
Jan 2, 2025Yara M. AsiOn September 17 and 18, 2024, a coordinated Israeli attack turned pagers and walkie-talkies in Lebanon into explosive devices, killing at least 42 people and i…
- Policy AnalysisSyriaUS Foreign Policy
Damascus Falls, and So Does US Policy
Jan 2, 2025Charles W. DunneWith a presidential transition imminent, US policy on Syria, not to mention the broader Middle East, is in limbo.
- ViewpointPalestine/IsraelInternational Law
Israel, Syria, and International Law
Dec 26, 2024Jonathan KuttabThe fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria has provided Israel with yet more opportunities to brazenly tear apart the fabric of international legal norms, f…
- Policy AnalysisSyriaRegional Relations and Geopolitics
Turkey and the Transition to a Post-Assad Regime in Syria
Dec 20, 2024Salim ÇevikTurkey's intervention in Syria and its approach to the post-Assad era reflects a complex interplay of short and long-term objectives shaped by domestic politic…
- Policy AnalysisSyriaConflicts and Conflict Resolution
Syria’s Kurds Facing Dangerous Headwinds
Dec 18, 2024Gregory AftandilianThe rapid collapse of the Assad regime by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) fighters has put Syrian Kurds of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and their autonomous …
- ViewpointSyriaConflicts and Conflict Resolution
Deciphering the Quick Collapse of the Assad Regime
Dec 17, 2024Radwan ZiadehMany western media outlets have speculated about the quick collapse of the Syrian regime and its military and security services in their battle against a coali…
- ViewpointSyriaDemocracy and Governance
Will Assad’s Fall Give Iran’s Reformists a New Lease on Life?
Dec 11, 2024Daniel BrumbergFor Iran, the fall of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad and what was left of his regime—together with Moscow’s decision to throw its leading Middle East ally to the wind…
- Policy AnalysisYemenUS Foreign Policy
Recalibrating US Engagement in Yemen Under a New Trump Administration
Dec 11, 2024Afrah NasserThe military escalation between the United States and the Iran-backed Houthi movement in Yemen has significant implications for Yemen’s future. As the Houthis …
- ViewpointSyriaDemocracy and Governance
A New Syria is Born: Hopes and Challenges
Dec 11, 2024Marwa DaoudyDecember 8, 2024, marked a historic turning point in Syria and the Middle East region—a day when the Syrian people achieved what had seemed unattainable: the t…
- ViewpointLebanonConflicts and Conflict Resolution
Israel’s Violations of the Ceasefire with Hezbollah Threaten to Undo It
Dec 10, 2024Imad K. HarbThe ceasefire agreement reached between Israel and Lebanon on November 27 was a welcome development after 14 months of skirmishes between the Israeli Army and …
- Policy AnalysisSyriaDemocracy and Governance
Implications of Assad’s Fall for Syria and the Region
Dec 10, 2024Heba Gowayed Imad K. Harb Bahraa Hijazi Khalil E. Jahshan Patricia Karam Annelle ShelineThe fall of Damascus marked the end of the regime of Bashar al-Assad, who inherited the presidency from his father Hafez al-Assad in 2000.
- Policy AnalysisIranUS Foreign Policy
Trump and Company Return to the Folly of “Maximum Pressure” on Iran
Dec 5, 2024Daniel BrumbergWhen it comes to US Iran policy, simple yet profound realities merit repeating. One of these is that economic sanctions are a tactic, not a strategy. Indeed, u…
- Policy AnalysisLebanonIdentity Politics and Sectarianization
Hezbollah’s Likely Demise and Lebanon’s Uncertain Future
Dec 4, 2024Patricia KaramIsrael's approval of a US-brokered ceasefire with Hezbollah set the stage for an end to fourteen months of fighting between the two parties, ushering in the po…
- Policy AnalysisTurkeyUS Foreign Policy
Trump’s Election and Future of Turkish-American Relations
Dec 4, 2024Salim ÇevikTurkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan expressed clear satisfaction with the election of Donald Trump as president of the United States, quickly congratulating…
- Policy AnalysisPalestine/IsraelIsraeli War Tactics and Genocide
Motivations for Israel’s Unprecedented Destruction of Palestinian Lives
Dec 2, 2024Daoud KuttabFor over a year, a systematic and unprecedented Israeli campaign of death, injury, and ruin of entire communities has been taking place in Gaza, and in recent …
- Policy AnalysisPalestine/IsraelMigrants, Refugees, and IDPs
UNRWA Closure as Prelude to the Elimination of Palestinians’ Right of Return
Dec 2, 2024Mtanes ShihadehThe United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) was established in 1949 by a UN General Assembly resolution. Its mai…
- Policy AnalysisThe Arabian Peninsula and The GulfEnergy and Economics
Trump Is Back: What Does It Mean for Oil and US-Gulf Relations?
Nov 27, 2024Jim KranePresident-elect Donald Trump has made clear his fondness for fossil fuels, a fondness that was reciprocated by many in the industry. Expectations are high. But…
- Policy AnalysisPalestine/IsraelInternational Law
Gaza and Lebanon: No Distinction Between Civilian and Military Targets
Nov 22, 2024Jonathan KuttabOne of the consequences of the present Israeli war on Gaza has been the blatant erosion of respect for and belief in international legal principles and institu…
- ViewpointUS Foreign Policy
A Preview of Trump’s National Security Team
Nov 19, 2024Ethan Mayer-RichJust two weeks have passed since President-elect Donald Trump won the election, and his new administration is already taking shape. Trump’s selections for his …
- Policy AnalysisUS Foreign Policy
Foreign Policy in the Second Trump Administration Takes Shape
Nov 19, 2024Nabeel A. KhouryThe foundations of President-elect Donald Trump’s foreign policy are now taking shape. He has nominated Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), as secretary of state, form…
- Policy AnalysisSaudi ArabiaUS Foreign Policy
Saudi Arabia and Trump: Expectations and Challenges Ahead
Nov 14, 2024The Unit for Political StudiesOn November 5, former President Donald Trump successfully reclaimed the White House, achieving a decisive victory over his Democratic opponent, Vice President …
- Policy AnalysisThe Arabian Peninsula and The GulfRegional Relations and Geopolitics
GCC States Seek Diplomacy During US Absence
Nov 12, 2024Kristian Coates UlrichsenThe expansion and partial regionalization of what is already the longest and deadliest conflict in the Israeli-Palestinian arena since 1948 presents the Gulf A…
- ViewpointUS Foreign Policy
Trump’s Middle East Team Will Have to Deal with His Unpredictability and Narcissism
Nov 8, 2024Daniel BrumbergIt is very hard to predict the foreign policy that president-elect Donald Trump will pursue because he is deeply and pathologically unpredictable. On both the …
- Policy AnalysisUS Domestic Politics and Elections
Commentary: Why Trump Won
Nov 7, 2024Yara M. Asi Imad K. Harb Khalil E. Jahshan Tamara Kharroub Yousef Munayyer Annelle ShelineThe election of former President Donald Trump after losing the 2020 round to President Joe Biden is likely to go down in the annals of American history as a mo…
- Policy AnalysisPalestine/IsraelGlobal Health and Health Policy
Intent to Destroy: Documenting a Year of Israel’s Attacks on Health in Gaza
Nov 7, 2024Yara M. AsiAfter a year of unfathomable images, videos, and testimonies from Gaza, the story of 19-year-old Shaban al-Dalou still managed to shock the world. On October 1…
- Policy AnalysisThe Arab WorldUS Foreign Policy
A Second Trump Administration: Potential Policy Toward the Middle East
Nov 5, 2024Charles W. DunneThe November 5 presidential election is likely to have major implications for US foreign policy, as it pits a centrist and robust internationalist candidate (V…
- Policy AnalysisUS Domestic Politics and Elections
Girding for Post-Election Violence if Trump Loses
Nov 4, 2024Gregory AftandilianMany Americans are worried that if former President Donald Trump loses to Vice President Kamala Harris in the November 5 election, he and his Make American Gre…
- Policy AnalysisPalestine/IsraelConflicts and Conflict Resolution
The New Occupation of the Occupied Palestinian Territories
Oct 31, 2024Mohanad MustafaIsrael’s concept for the “day after” in Gaza is becoming clearer as its war on the Strip continues into its second year. In fact, the features of this plan beg…
- ViewpointPalestine/IsraelUS Domestic Politics and Elections
Harris and the Arab-American Vote: Election Day Approaches
Oct 31, 2024Ethan Mayer-RichThe continued peripheralization of Arab-American voices has made it clear that to Harris and her campaign, just as Palestinian lives may not matter as much as …
- Policy AnalysisPalestine/IsraelConflicts and Conflict Resolution
Important Conclusions from Israel’s Wars on Palestine and Lebanon
Oct 25, 2024Imad K. HarbIt is hard to overemphasize the importance of Israel’s killing of Hezbollah’s Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah and Chairman of Hamas’s Political Bureau Yahya…
- Policy AnalysisPalestine/IsraelUS Foreign Policy
The Israel/Palestine Stain on Biden’s Foreign Policy Legacy
Oct 23, 2024Gregory AftandilianEvery US president wants to leave office with a positive legacy. Some do so to draw attention away from a scandal; others hope that the history books will trea…
- Policy AnalysisSudanMigrants, Refugees, and IDPs
War and Displacement in Sudan
Oct 22, 2024Heba GowayedIn April 2023, violence broke out in Sudan’s capital Khartoum in a power struggle between Abdel-Fattah al-Burhan, leader of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), an…
- Policy AnalysisPalestine/IsraelThe War on Gaza
Demystifying How the Hamas Leadership Works
Oct 18, 2024Hanna AlshaikhIn light of the recent news of the death of Yahya Sinwar, Head of the Hamas Political Bureau, Arab Center Washington DC is republishing this analytic piece by …
- ViewpointPalestine/IsraelConflicts and Conflict Resolution
Middle East Realities That Require an Escape Route
Oct 17, 2024Rami G. KhouriThe past month may prove to be the most critical moment of geo-strategic transformation in the Middle East since the end of the Second World War—if not its mos…
- Policy AnalysisPalestine/IsraelConflicts and Conflict Resolution
One Year After October 7: Israel Descends into Endless War
Oct 11, 2024Daniel BrumbergAmong the many moments described in the Washington Post’s recent article on the Biden administration’s failed efforts to secure a ceasefire in Gaza, one stands…
- From our AffiliatesLebanonConflicts and Conflict Resolution
GCC Responses to Israeli Aggression on Lebanon: Strategic Concerns and Regional Implications
Oct 9, 2024The Unit for Political StudiesThe positions of the GCC countries toward Israel's war on Lebanon are appear divided. All share a deep concern about escalation and its potential impact on the…
- Policy AnalysisYemenConflicts and Conflict Resolution
A Decade On, Assessing Shared Responsibility for Yemen’s Tragedy
Oct 3, 2024Afrah NasserOn September 21, 2014, Yemen’s capital Sanaa awoke to an unexpected turn of events that would reshape the country’s destiny. The Houthi armed group, officially…
- ViewpointLebanonConflicts and Conflict Resolution
Nasrallah’s Killing Prompts Serious Calculations
Sep 30, 2024Nabeel A. KhouryIsrael’s killing of Hezbollah’s Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah has shocked many in Lebanon and the region regardless of what they thought of the man and hi…
- Policy AnalysisUS Domestic Politics and Elections
Foreign Policy’s Impact on the November Presidential Election
Sep 25, 2024Gregory AftandilianUS presidential elections are usually decided on domestic issues, especially the economy. A candidate’s resting his or her presidential laurels on a foreign po…
- Policy AnalysisLebanonConflicts and Conflict Resolution
The War Israel Wants but Hezbollah Rejects
Sep 20, 2024Imad K. HarbThe Israeli war on Hezbollah has just entered another deadly phase characterized by the sophisticated, but criminally minded, use of cyber warfare to detonate …
- Policy AnalysisPalestine/IsraelUS Foreign Policy
Gaza, the American Elections, and the Fallout of a Disaster
Sep 19, 2024Charles W. DunneThe United States, sometimes considered the adult in the room when arbitrating international conflicts, has proved to be more of an adolescent when it came to …
- Policy AnalysisPalestine/IsraelProtests and Activism
US University Campuses Will Stifle Students’ Protests Next Year
Sep 16, 2024Jonathan KuttabThe student protests and the encampment movement that exploded on campuses toward the end of the 2024 school year pitted students (and faculty) protesting the …
- Policy AnalysisPalestine/IsraelThe War on Gaza
Discrediting the Living and Denying the Dead in Gaza: Justifying Indiscriminate Attacks on Civilians
Sep 12, 2024Yara M. AsiIn mid-August 2024, the world stood witness to one of the few personal tragedies from Gaza to make global headlines. Israeli airstrikes killed two 3-day-old tw…
- Policy AnalysisYemenUS Foreign Policy
Assessing GCC Perspectives on American-British Strikes Against Yemen’s Houthis
Sep 11, 2024Giorgio CafieroSince last November, Yemen’s Ansar Allah movement, commonly known as the Houthis, has been attacking commercial and merchant vessels in the Gulf of Aden and th…
- Policy AnalysisYemenClimate and Environment
Climate Change: A New Battlefield in Yemen’s Ongoing Conflict
Sep 6, 2024Afrah NasserLike the rest of the world, Yemen is facing the profound effects of climate change on sectors from agriculture and health to the broader economy and natural re…